Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021. If you are using an earlier version (Excel 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Excel, click here: Determining the Day of the Month.

Determining the Day of the Month

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated June 6, 2025)
This tip applies to Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021


1

When creating macros in VBA, you may have a need to know the specific day of the month represented by a particular date. For instance, you may want to determine the day of the month on which the macro is being executed. The following code will do the trick:

iDay = Day(Date)

The Day function returns an integer value representing the day of the month of whatever date you provide. In this example, the Date function represents today's date, and so Day returns today's day of the month.

You can also, if you prefer, use the Format function to return a text string that contains the day of the month. For instance, consider this code:

sTemp = Format(Date,"dd")

This returns the day of the month as two digits with a leading zero. You could replace "dd" with other variations; "d" returns the date without a leading zero, "ddd" returns the short day name for the day of the month (as in "Wed" or "Fri"), and "dddd" returns the full day name (as in "Wednesday" or "Friday").

Note, however, that Format returns a string. If your subsequent computations require a numeric value, then it is best to use the Day function.

Note:

If you would like to know how to use the macros described on this page (or on any other page on the ExcelTips sites), I've prepared a special page that includes helpful information. Click here to open that special page in a new browser tab.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (9640) applies to Microsoft Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Excel here: Determining the Day of the Month.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Ensuring Standardized Numbering

Want to make sure your paragraph numbering looks the same on different computer systems? It's a harder task in Word than ...

Discover More

Accessing Old Excel Data

If you have some legacy data stored in very old spreadsheet files, you may be wondering how to get that data into an ...

Discover More

Resolving Revisions

You've reviewed the changes that were made to your workbook using the Highlight Changes tool. Now you need to remove the ...

Discover More

Excel Smarts for Beginners! Featuring the friendly and trusted For Dummies style, this popular guide shows beginners how to get up and running with Excel while also helping more experienced users get comfortable with the newest features. Check out Excel 2019 For Dummies today!

More ExcelTips (ribbon)

Understanding the Select Case Structure

One of the powerful programming structures available in VBA is the Select Case structure. This tip explains how you can ...

Discover More

Selecting to the Bottom of a Column in a Macro

Need to select a range of cells in a column? This tip can help, as it shows how to select from a specific cell all the ...

Discover More

Recording a Macro

One of the most common ways of creating macros is to use Excel's macro recorder. This tip shows how easy it is to use the ...

Discover More
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is eight minus 5?

2021-02-13 09:10:38

Brian P

You refer to “day of the month” in this tip, but in places (“ddd” & “dddd”) it appears to be talking about “day of the week” (e.g., Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday). “Day of the month” would refer to the number (1-31).


This Site

Got a version of Excel that uses the ribbon interface (Excel 2007 or later)? This site is for you! If you use an earlier version of Excel, visit our ExcelTips site focusing on the menu interface.

Newest Tips
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.